Broadcast sector not looking down: Ambika Soni

New Delhi, March 30 (IANS) Contending that the broadcasting sector in the country was not looking down, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni Tuesday asserted that different fields of broadcasting in the country are projected to grow between 13 to 19 percent in the next four years. “I don’t think we are dealing with a sector which is looking down,” she said in her opening remarks at ‘CEOs roundtable on broadcast’ organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here.

The minister said the sector was “projected to grow between 13 to 19 percent in different fields of broadcasting till 2014″.

She said despite downsizing of the economy in 2008-09, the broadcast sector had witnessed growth.

Soni said her ministry has held wide consultations on the need for setting up an independent regulator for the broadcast sector.

“All of us are sensitive to the word regulatory. We (the ministry) have been interactive and participative in the process,” she said.

In his introductory remarks, Shekhar Gupta, chairman, CII national committee on media, and editor-in-chief of The Indian Express, said media should learn to regulate itself and work out a self-regulatory mechanism.

He said the media had expanded vastly but there was also free-for-all in the market.

The day-long roundtable of chief executive officers from various media organisations with the minister will discuss issues related to management and development of the broadcasting sector, programme code and self-regulation, and television rating points and its social impact on TV content.

The roundtable is being attended by top officials from the information and broadcasting ministry and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India besides representatives from media bodies, including News Broadcasters Association and Indian Broadcasting Foundation.